Malaysian NRIs ask India to terminate its business relations with Malaysia

NEW DELHI: The Malaysians of Indian origin might put India in a tight spot. The community has asked the government of India to terminate all present and future business projects with Malaysia. The demand has come at a time when most Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) are keenly looking for business and investment opportunities between India and foreign countries.

According to the Malaysian Indian Minority & Human Rights Violations annual report 2010 compiled by Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF), Malaysians of Indian origin have been suffering grave human rights violations committed by the Malaysian government. The report was distributed by the HINDRAF activists at the inaugural day of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Overseas Indians Festival) here on Friday.

Based on the news reports published in major Malaysian newspapers like The Star, The Utusan Malaysia, News Straits Times of Malaysia, the HINDRAF report claims that 95% people killed by the Malaysian police were ethnic Indians.

Indians constitute 8% of the Malaysian population.

The report also says that 90% of the custodial deaths and 80% people who experienced "police harassment, unlawful arrests, frivolous and malicious prosecutions," were Malaysian Indians. At least, 48% prisoners in 28 prisons of Malaysia are ethnic Indians and on 2010 alone, 5000 Indians were arrested and detained under Emergency Ordinance, the report points out. However, 36,000 prisoners including 17256 ethnic Indians in Malaysia are serving custodial sentence for minor crimes, the report claims.

According to the human resources ministry of Malaysian government, 200,000 Indian youth in Malaysia are involved in crime. The report says that this figure amounted to 60% of the Indian population in Malaysia.

"There are about 100,000 ethnic Indian gangsters operating in Malaysia. The acute problem which requires multi faceted intervention to address the issue, is understood to have low priority with the government, which lacks the political will to avert the situation. The only known current policy towards the social problem is the alarming increase in police killings," the HINDRAF report observes.

Chairman HINDRAF, Malaysia, Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy has asked the government of India to issue a note of censure against the Malaysian government for its human rights record with respect to people of Indian origin in a language consistent with the serious and urgent nature of the problem and to urge the Malaysian government to reverse marginalization of the people of Indian origin in Malaysia.

HINDRAF is a coalition of Hindu non-governmental organizations working for the preservation of political and economic rights of Hindu community in Malaysia.